Latin or Greek?

[AimeeM]

I want DD to do Latin this upcoming year... she wants Greek. 

 

Pick a winner :P

[JDoe]

No contest DD wins both on motivation and content. 

[desertflower]

Greek. it'll get done since this is what she wants. she may have some resentment if she's forced to learn Latin.

[SarahW]

Have her pick a Greek text. At 8th she'd be young for Athenaze, and old for Elementary Greek, but that depends on her goals for it. Maybe seeing her options would help her (and you) decide.

[purduemeche]

Unless she is of Greek heritage, go with Latin.  It will help her English reading and writing immensely.  Tell her she can do Greek in HS if she does well in Latin.

[Myra]

I would start her in Latin so she gets the idea of language study - how verbs are conjugated, noun declension, and parsing sentences by grammar.  Latin is sort of a prelude for studying over languages and also will help with English.  So even if she decides not to continue on with Latin, it won't be a "waste of her time" as it will help studying Greek or any language later on.

 

 

Also....this is a fun and inexpensive workbook.  You might, at first glance, think it is too young for an eighth grader but.......it is a fun way to satisfy her need to learn Greek while mastering the basics of reading, writing, and speaking the Greek alphabet. 

 

I'd make a bet with her that if she finishes a year of Latin and independently does the Greek workbook (and maybe Hey Andrew series on her own) then Greek will be on the curriculum for next school year!

 

http://classicalacademicpress.com/greek-alphabet-code-cracker/

 

Myra

 

I assume you mean classical Greek, not modern Greek?  Generally, I'd go with interest, but Greek is much harder than Latin, there's few good textbooks for pre-college ages, and there's no AP Greek, or SAT Greek, when it comes to that.

[KrissiK]

Both. Greek is harder because you've got the alphabet and sounds to learn, too. But, if she wants to do it, do it. You can do them both, simultaneously.

 

ETA: my oldest son is in Second Form Latin (Memoria press), my second is in First Form and my dd is in Prima Latina. We use the DVDs for instruction. They are all doing really well and like it. Last year we did CAP's Greek Alphabet Code Crackers and took our time getting through it. This year we started Elementary Greek after Christmas. All three kids are doing it together. They really like it. We're not terribly far along, but it's like a puzzle trying to sound out the Greek words. It's one of our favorite subjects.

[Ethel Mertz]

Both. Start her with CAP's (Greek) Code-Crackers for fun (as a PP suggested).

[Slache]

Both. Greek is harder because you've got the alphabet and sounds to learn, too. But, if she wants to do it, do it. You can do them both, simultaneously.

 

It only took me like 2 weeks to really master that, and I imagine she'd pick it up faster than me.

 

 

 

 

 

I vote Greek. For her.

[AimeeM]

Can we do both at the same time?

 

She is dyslexic. Language is hard for her. Really hard. Oddly enough, she's pretty good with grammar, but spelling and vocab are weak areas for her. *My* thinking is that Latin would help her with that, and would allow her to cut back on the individual subjects a bit (after this year, I'd be cool with her dropping english grammar if she is doing Latin, and she could obviously drop specific vocab study with Latin.

 

She is obsessed with everything Ancient Greek. Obsessed is putting it mildly. We're going to make an attempt at MP's classical studies next year (WITH the aid of their DVD program for Iliad and Odyssey studies)... solely because she's motivated to read it and she wants it (we'll buddy read, like we will do with MP's 7th grade lit selection - she's also motivated to try Shakespeare). 

 

I definitely do think she is more motivated to do Greek... but *I* think that Latin is more practical for her. Whichever we do, she will have to study more than the average 8th grader. I would definitely use CAPs products (I'm using them for other things next year). 

 

DS5 will be starting Song School Latin next year, so there's that. I was looking at either Latin for Children or Latin Alive for DD, and I do not think that their Elementary Greek is too "young" for her at all - it looks like a great start, if she does the Code Cracker book first.

[JDoe]

 

She is dyslexic. Language is hard for her. Really hard. 

 

Then motivation would be even more important than normally.

 

 

Galore Park has a nice introductory Greek textbook for after the Greek Code Cracker

 

https://www.galorepark.co.uk/Product?Product=9781905735884

[Hunter]

We did both Latin and Greek and sometimes just did one or the other.

 

My son MUCH preferred Greek culture and the Greek language to the Romans and Latin. BUT Latin, for many reasons, was a lot easier to learn. Is your primary goal to master a language or feed her interest in all things Greek? If your primary goal to is make significant progress through a language, you are more likely to make more progress in Latin. If you are content to let the language be a supplement to her Greek studies, then go for Greek.

[Haiku]

I would go with Latin because, especially with the dyslexia thrown in, it will give her more help in the academic realm. I think Latin is more valuable to English speakers. Part of my ds's dyslexia tutoring is working with Latin roots and prefixes/suffixes (and some Greek ones, but not nearly as many).

 

Besides, if she is that motivated with Greek, she can work on it independently. My dd13 comes to me with 1,000,001 things she wants to add to our curriculum of studies. I accommodate what I can and tell her to do the rest in her spare time.

[SarahW]

Can we do both at the same time?

 

She is dyslexic. Language is hard for her. Really hard. Oddly enough, she's pretty good with grammar, but spelling and vocab are weak areas for her. *My* thinking is that Latin would help her with that, and would allow her to cut back on the individual subjects a bit (after this year, I'd be cool with her dropping english grammar if she is doing Latin, and she could obviously drop specific vocab study with Latin.

 

She is obsessed with everything Ancient Greek. Obsessed is putting it mildly. We're going to make an attempt at MP's classical studies next year (WITH the aid of their DVD program for Iliad and Odyssey studies)... solely because she's motivated to read it and she wants it (we'll buddy read, like we will do with MP's 7th grade lit selection - she's also motivated to try Shakespeare). 

 

I definitely do think she is more motivated to do Greek... but *I* think that Latin is more practical for her. Whichever we do, she will have to study more than the average 8th grader. I would definitely use CAPs products (I'm using them for other things next year). 

 

DS5 will be starting Song School Latin next year, so there's that. I was looking at either Latin for Children or Latin Alive for DD, and I do not think that their Elementary Greek is too "young" for her at all - it looks like a great start, if she does the Code Cracker book first.

 

 

She may find the Greek alphabet easier to work with, depending on her specific dyslexic issue. Or she may find it more difficult, who knows. But if she does find it easier, Greek could be a path for her to progress her LA overall.

 

EG is sold by MP. CAP's GfC could be a good fit for her, is that what you meant? Last catalog said B and C were "in production" but I think they've been saying that for years, so....  EG is slower than GfC, GfcA covers nearly all of EG1 and 2. So for an 8th grader I would generally say GfC would be better. But what's best for one student is of course is highly individual.